Primer for gas engines



J. B. GARNIER AND1. B. ANDERSON.

PRIMER4 FUR GAS ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED IuIIE 2o. I92I.

LMLWI mmm UCI. Im, ma

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

I. B.. GAIINEN AND I. s. ANDERSON.

PRIMER FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED IuNIi 20. 1921.

Patented 001:. W

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

m W M W W/ TFA/ESS @S an rate constituents,

an ably placed adjacent the gas engine.

JAMES B. tint :tu la or rrrrsnun;

animen l :can ron. i

ANB nl ru COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

l GMES.

Application tiled lune all, 199i. Serial lilo. Malina.

To all wwm t may concern:

Be it known that we, latins B. Gianna, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, and

5 dairies B. Axnnnsolv, residing at Shaler Township, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, both citizens ofthe United States, have inventedl or discovered certain new and useful improvements in l@ Primers for Gras Engines, of which improvements the following is a specification.

@ur invention relates to primers for gas engines, and consists in a novel structure designed for and suited to the use of lontane i5 as a priming agent, but it will be understood that the use of another substance as priming agent is not precluded-for example,

any llquelied petroleum gas, low boilingpoint gasoline, petroleum ether, or its sepa- Pam' c ln the accompanying drawings Plg. ll 1s a p view in longitudinal section through an automobile of conventional build, showlng that a5 portion, where the engine is situated, and

showing the engine in elevation, and the primer of our invention associated therewith; Pig. lll is a view in vertical and longltudinal section, and to larger scale, of the an tank for the priming material; Pig. lll is a view in vertical and transverse section through the same tank and through the feed duct therefrom, and shows', partly in section partly in side elevation, the controlllng yalla valve. Pigs. lill and V are views in vertical section and at right angles one to another, and to larger scale, of the controlling valve in its casing.

A tank l for the priming material is spige gas engine here chosen for illustration is the familiar engine of an automobile, and in this instance the tank is `shown to he placed behind the dashboard of the vehicle. lts paran ticular location is it will be understood a matter of convenience. P rom the tank l a feed duct 2 leads to the manifold 3 of the enne. lin this duct a manually operable control valve is arranged, and, the invention nu being applied to an automobile, this controll sulphuric ether, andl provalve will advantageously be so placed as to be accessible for operation from the drivers seat, by hand or by foot, as may be preferred. Accordingly, in this instance the control valve, indicated in Pig.' l by the reference numeral t, is shown to be arranged behind the dashboard, in proper relation to the drivers seat 5.

'llhe tank shown in lfigs. lll and lll is in form and in connections suitable for containing lontane for example as a priming material. Butane is a petroleum derivative, a para of the normal formula (with vamations) @,llm. Under normal atmospheric conditions it is a gas; it may be brought to liquid form by compression at a temperature of Allo ld. and, such being the case, the duid is one capable of being stored and carried in liquid form, and evaporated for use as a gas as need requires. ll-nvention in the. recovery of substantially pure bntane from petroleum is t-he subject-matter of llnited States Letters Patent No. 1,307,353 granted June 2li, i919, to J ames B; lirarner, orte of the present applicants, jointly with Howell tl. Cooper.

'llhe tank l of the apparatus shown is cylindrical with' rounded ends, and is indicated to be made of metal with walls of substantial thickness. Such is the familiar construction of a container for compressed gases. 'lihe filling plug 6 is of usual form, and requires no particular description. Butane is introducedin liquid form and in practical service may be introduced in sncient quantity to lill the tank say 8(l% full of liquid. Above the liquid, butane will ll the remaining space in gaseous condition and under relatively high pressure.

lin the length of duct 2 which leads from tank l to engine manifold 3 are arranged an expansion chamber and valves controlling ingress to and egress from the expansion chamber, and it is in this expansion chamber and the associated valves where our invention centers.

With particular attention to Pigs. llllhll, andl, the expansion chamber will be seen to be an enlargement by a considerable number of diameters and for an appreciable lill All

`ent applicants.

. effective area.

length of the diameter of duct 2. The shoulders formed where duct 2 widens to chamber 7 and contracts again form seats for the two valves, 8 and 9. These valves are conical, are Ymovable in ways in the direction of and in axial alignment with duct 2. Stems 10 and 11 extend through suitably packed orices in the walls of chamber 7 and these stems are provided at their inner ends with longitudinally' extending but eccentrically placed pins 12 and 13. These pins enter transverse slots 14 and 15 in the bodies of valves Sand 9, and the effect of stem rotation is valve movement longitudinally, in di rection to and from the valve seat.

Valves of this type will be found to be minutely described, and their advantages dwelt upon in an application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 456,798. tiled March 30th, 1921, by J ames B. Anderson, one of the pres- Sutfice it here to say of them that they7 are well adapted to control the dow of erqpanding fluids through small orifices, to retain accuracy under exacting service conditions, and to be easily operated.

Normally valve 8, the valve at the intake end of chamber "4", stands closed, and valve 9 at the outlet end open, in the positions shown in Figs., llifwand V. i en in operation of the apparatus valve 8 is opened and valve 9 closed a small quantity of butane in liquid form gains access to chamber 7. It there expands to gaseous form, and when immediately thereafter the valve position is reversed, this segregated charge of butane gas 1s released, to expand and flow to the engine manifold, and to,y perform there its priming surfacen The delivery from tank 1 to duct 2 and chamber 7 is, it will be observed, from the bottom of the tank, and, accordingly, the butane as it enters duc-t 2 is in liquid form. This has already been intimated. Induct 2, between'tank 1 and chamber i is advantageously placed an adjustable valve 16 controlling the passage and determining its This valve is so adjusted in its opening that a charge of butane filling duct 2 in liquid form between valves 16 and 8 may, on the opening of valve 8 expand at once into chamber 7, while the orifice is insuicient. to allow the feeding down, during the short interval of time during which valve 8 is open, of any such additional quantity of butane as to disturb operation or unduly build up pressure in chamber 7 Means are provided, whereby the valves 8 and 9 are normally held, valve 8 to its seat, and valve 9 open; and whereby in operation valve 9 closes before valve 8 opens, and opens again after valve 8 has closed. These means in preferred form are shown in Figs. lll and V.

From stems 10 and 11 extend crank arms 17 and 18. A link 19 engages both crank arms. Crank arm 18 is made of two pieces hinged medially, as by a pivot 20, by virtue of which the outer end of the crank may swing on this pivot downward (cf. lill) after the'inner end has reached the limit of its downward swing. A spring 21 normally holds the two ends in the rela.- tive position indicated by full lines, F ig. III. The connection between link 19 and crank arm 17 is by means of pin and slot, to -thc end that there is a limited range of inde` pendent movement of link 19, before crank arm 17 will be moved. A spring 22, engaging crank arm 18 at its inner end normally holds both crank arms in their uppermost positions, in which they are shown by full lires in Fig. III. The outer end of crank arm 18 conveniently terminates in a handle or treadle, 23. A

@f 2, including its enlargement into chamber T, adaptation to the use of priming substance such as we have indicated. to be recognized, in that there is no venting of the duct in order to facilitate flow. but thc duct is continuous-walled from end to end, the flow of priming material being due to volatilization of liquid to gas.

Operation will Normally the device is inactive, and the parts occupy the positions shown in Fig. III. When, under winter conditions, for example, the cylinder walls of the gas engine are so cold that an introduced charge of gasoline and air will not expand and mingle to form a proper explosive mixture the priming apparatus becomes valuable to afford a substance which being introduced through manifold and carinii-citer into the cylinder, will do what gasoline fails to do, until at length the cylinder becomes heated to a point at which gasoline will serve as intended.

en such a condition obtains the driver of the car depresses the handle 23 of his priming apparatus. The following movements occur: (l) crank arm 18 swings as a unit, against the tension of spring 22. stem 11 turns, and valve 9 closes, cutting olf expansion chamber T from the continuation of duct 2 to the manifold. It is in virtue of the slotted connection between link 19 and crank arm 17 that this closure of valve 9 is effected before valve 8 is unseated. Vhen valve 9 has so come to its seat further turning of stem 11 isblocked. (2) Further depression of handle 23 then causes the outer end of crank arm 18 to swing upon its pivot downward, against the tension of spring 21. to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. lll. This further downward swing of the outer end of crank arm 18 more than takes up the readily be understood,

aannam v p 8 the small quantity ot liquid butane thereall totore contained in duct 2 above valve 8 and incompletely segregated by valve 1b trom thef large quantity in tank 1 passes intochamber 7, vaporizing and expanding as it oes.

tter momentary pressure upon the handle 23 is relieved, and springs 21 and E22 become edective; the depressed parts rise, the stems 10 and 11 turn in opposite direction to the initial turning described above, and iirst valve 8 closes. Then, alter an interval, valve 9 opens, and thereupon the charge ot butane, which has just heen segregated in chamber 'i' and which is contained in chamber i in the condition ot hightly compressed gas, expands through the turther reaches ot duct 2, (driving torward butane gas already lling the tube) and injecting into manifold 3 a charge ot butane to serve there the purpose intended. During the time when valve 8 is open valve 16 so tar cholnes the duct trom tanh 1 that the segregation ot a charge in gaseous term (though under great prossime) is achieved; but (valve 8 having alter a short interval closed again) the llow beneath valve 1n -will still be sumcient to allow the gradual lling' again ot the portion ot the duct 2 between valves 1n and l 8 with liquid butane.

lt is to be remarhed ot valves n and tl that both oit them open inwardly and close outwardly with respect to `chamber 7M 'll'his `arrangement insures tight and leahage-- preventing closure ot the valves.

till

Spring Q2 will be strong enough to hold valve 8 normally to its seat and prevent lealrage and loss ot butane. Further', in surance against loss is tound in vvalve 1b which when the services ot the leed mechanism are not required may be completely clomd. o 1

ldutane is the priming material which we by prelerence employ, but manifestly other suitable material may be used instead; andl in the'use ot another material, the change trom liquid yto gaseous state may not be involved. ln case the material employed be under the conditions ot service liquid, `the suction ot the engine may sumen to draw in the tumes or vapor ot the liquid, and so to achieve the end desired; it' however the liquid he so stable as not to rpond to suction to the end indicated, it is an obvious matter to add an injection pump.

lhe a plication ot our inventionv to an automobile specilically is merely by way ot example; manitestly, it is apphcable to gas engines generally. Details ot structure are not ot the vessence ot the invention; an engineer will recognize the possibility et structural variation; we have indicated what is essential, and denne it in the tollowing claims:

1. Priming apparatus tor a gas engine adapted to a volatile priming huid and including in combination a liquid container, a continuous-walled duct leading trom such container to the gas engine, a segregation chamber in the length ot such duct demarcated by valves, means tonmaintaining the inlet valve to such chamber normally closed and the outlet open, such meansbeing movable and in movement edecting closure `ot theoutlet valve and in sequence thereatter opening ot the inlet valve.

2. lPriming apparatus tor a gas engine adapted to a volatile priming duid and including in combination with a gas engine, a liquid container, an expansion chamber, a duct leading tromsaid source ot supply to said expansion chamber and trom said expansion chamber to said engine, said chamber and duct being termed with continuous and unvented walls, inwardly opening valves controlling inlet to and exit trom said expansion chamber, means tor shitting said valves in sequence and edecting the opening ot one only alter the other has closed, and a throttle valve arranged in the duct between source ot supply and expan sion chamber.

3. ltlrimingapparatus tor a gas engine including, in .combination with the engine, a source et supply olf priming-material, a segregation chamber, ducts lea trom said source ot supply to the segregation chamber and hom the segregation chamber te said engine, two inwardly opening valves arranged in said segregation chamber and controlling communication trom duct to chamber and trom chamber to duct again, two rotary stems extending through the wall ot the se-egation chamber and connected one to eac nected to each ot said stems, one ot said cranh arms being termed ot two parts pivoted one to the other and held by spring lmnsion against relative movement, "and cranh-swinging means engaging said cranh 4arms with allowance tor lost mot-ion in one case while inthe other case the-engagement lachs such allowance, such un@ means, driven in either ot two op osite directions, enmt-on traverset 'e closure ot one ot said valvesand on turther traverse the opening ot the other.

di. t nu u y" npptmllls including, receptacle adapted to maintain a quantity tor a lgas engine llll ot said valves, a cranh arm coniat' ot priming material under pressure and in i liquid term, a duct d t hom said receparranged in the course of said duct and marked off therefrom'b;v valves', each valve opening only When'the other is closed and closing before theother can be opened, and a throttlevalve arranged in the duet at an intermediate point between the receptacle aforesaid and the expansion chamber. 

